Craig Federighi

'Craig Federighi' Articles

Apple's current focus with Face ID is on single-user authentication, suggesting support for multiple faces won't be added in the near future, according to an email from the company's software engineering chief Craig Federighi.
By comparison, Touch ID can store up to five fingerprints, and each of those fingerprints can belong to a different person. This allows a married couple, for example, to be able to securely authenticate a single iPhone.
In an email to a customer, however, Federighi admitted that Touch ID's multi-finger support has always been intended for a single iPhone owner to authenticate with a finger or thumb on both the left and right hand if desired.
Federighi added that Face ID could eventually authenticate multiple faces as the system evolves in the future, but his email makes it clear that Apple doesn't have any immediate plans to implement said functionality.
MacRumors since publishing this article has received full headers that verify this email, originally shared on Reddit. We can confirm the email originates from Apple's servers at its headquarters in Cupertino, California.
A screenshot of Craig Federighi's alleged email response to a customer
Apple says Face ID has a one in 1,000,000 chance of a false match, compared to one in 50,000 for Touch ID, although the probability is higher among identical twins, siblings who look alike, and children.
Vietnamese security firm Bkav has also been able to spoof Face ID twice with 3D printed masks, but the steps involved are quite complex and this isn't something the average user should be

Apple software engineering chief Craig Federighi has revealed that a popular 3D Touch gesture for accessing the App Switcher will apparently return in a future update to iOS 11.
Federighi, replying to an email from MacRumors reader Adam Zahn, said Apple had to "temporarily drop support" for the gesture due to an unidentified "technical constraint."
Question from Zahn: Could we at least make the 3D Touch app switch gesture an option in iOS 11 so that I could retain the ability to switch apps that way instead of having to double tap the home button?
Response from Federighi: Hi Adam,
We regretfully had to temporarily drop support for this gesture due to a technical constraint. We will be bringing it back in an upcoming iOS 11.x update.
Thanks (and sorry for the inconvenience)!
- craigOn devices that support 3D Touch running iOS 9 or iOS 10, users can press deeply on the left side of the screen, drag to the right, and release to quickly access the App Switcher. The gesture stopped working in the iOS 11 beta, and an Apple engineer later confirmed it was "intentionally removed."
MacRumors has verified this email exchange passed through mail servers with an IP address range linked to Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, California. Coupled with the fact Federighi has been replying to several customer emails since the iPhone X event last week, we're fairly confident in its accuracy.
Federighi replies have also revealed that Face ID will work with most sunglasses and that Apple has considered a Nightstand mode for iPhone X.

Apple software engineering chief Craig Federighi has revealed that Apple has considered a Nightstand mode for iPhone X.
"This is definitely something we've considered," said Federighi, in response to an email from MacRumors reader Zain, who asked whether a Nightstand mode on the iPhone X would be possible. "This probably makes the most sense for customers who charge their phone in a dock that tilts up the phone."
However, Federighi noted that it's "not currently super common" for people to charge their iPhones that way.
Nightstand mode is an Apple Watch feature that allows the watch to be used as a nightstand clock and an alarm clock while it is laying on its side and charging. The watch displays the time in large text, along with the date, the battery's remaining charge, and an upcoming alarm if one is set.
When the Apple Watch is in Nightstand mode and isn't being used, the display turns off. To see the display again, users tap it, press the Digital Crown or the side button, or lightly nudge the Apple Watch. Sometimes, even nudging or tapping the nightstand or other surface the watch is sitting on works.
Since the iPhone X can't be positioned on its side by itself, it could be placed on a wireless charging pad with an angled stand, like this one from RAVPower. Coupled with new tap to wake functionality for the display, the idea of a Nightstand mode for iPhone X could make sense.
Apple could add Nightstand mode to iPhone X in a future update to iOS 11, but it's possible they've already dismissed the idea.
Federighi has been replying to several

Apple has updated its executive leadership page to acknowledge that software engineering chief Craig Federighi now officially oversees development of Siri. The responsibility previously belonged to Apple's services chief Eddy Cue.
Craig Federighi is Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering, reporting to CEO Tim Cook. Craig oversees the development of iOS, macOS, and Siri. His teams are responsible for delivering the software at the heart of Apple’s innovative products, including the user interface, applications and frameworks.Apple's leadership page is only now reflecting Federighi's role as head of Siri, but the transition has been apparent for several months, based on recent interviews and stage appearances at Apple's keynotes.
At WWDC 2016, for example, Federighi and Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller joined Daring Fireball's John Gruber to discuss how Apple was opening Siri up to third-party developers with SiriKit later that year.
At WWDC 2017, Federighi was on stage to discuss improvements to Siri in iOS 11, including more natural voice, built-in translation capabilities, and advances in machine learning and artificial intelligence.
Cue continues to oversee the iTunes Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, Apple Maps, iCloud, and the iWork and iLife suites of apps, and handing off Siri should allow him to focus more on Apple's push into original content.
Apple's updated leadership page also now lists profiles for recently promoted employees Deirdre O'Brien, Vice President of People, and Isabel Ge Mahe, Vice President and Managing Director of

Daring Fireball has shared the full video of "The Talk Show Live" from Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference this week.
Before a live audience at The California Theatre in San Jose, Apple senior executives Craig Federighi and Phil Schiller joined host John Gruber to reflect on the company's announcements at its WWDC opening keynote on Monday, including several new Macs, macOS High Sierra, iOS 11, and HomePod.
The video, produced by Amy Jane Gruber and Paul Kafasis, is available on Vimeo and embedded below.
MacRumors has put together a WWDC 2017 roundup with the latest news and announcements from the

One of the biggest questions about the Touch Bar on Apple's new MacBook Pro is how it will work with Windows through Boot Camp. That led MacRumors reader Abraham to send an email to Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi, who shared good news for dual-booters.Question from Abraham: Craig, am I correct in assuming that the Touch Bar becomes a row of visual function keys when using Windows with Boot Camp?
Federighi's answer: You are indeed!Presumably, this means the Touch Bar will likely display virtual function keys between F1-F12, along with an Escape key, when running Windows. It remains to be seen if there will be specific controls for system-level tasks such as volume, playback, and display brightness. Meanwhile, the virtual power button should work, but without Touch ID.
MacRumors cannot fully confirm the authenticity of the email, but it does appear to be sent by Federighi through Apple's corporate servers based on full headers we saw. Apple executives occasionally respond to customer emails, or it is possible the response was handled by Apple's executive relations or public relations teams.
Boot Camp is an Apple utility that enables users to partition their SSDs or hard drives and install Windows directly on a Mac, allowing for macOS and Windows to be run side by side. It differs from virtualization software like Parallels and VMware Fusion, which allows Windows to run as a desktop app within macOS

YouTube tech reviewer Marques Brownlee has shared an exclusive interview with Apple senior vice president of software engineering Craig Federighi. The pair chatted about the new MacBook Pro and its customizable Touch Bar, which Federighi said is "going to be great" and has "so much potential" for developers.
Touch Bar is a Multi-Touch strip of glass that replaces the standard row of function keys on the new MacBook Pros, providing users with system-level and app-specific controls that contextually change. For example, when a user types text in a document, the Touch Bar might include controls for adjusting the font face and size.
MacBook Pro users can interact with the Touch Bar using gestures. Tapping activates a control, such as a button, or selects an item, such as an emoji. Touching and holding initiates a secondary action on a control, such as a button. Panning moves an element, such as a slider of photos or emojis, from side-to-side.
The questions and answers below were edited slightly for clarity and brevity.
"Why now? Why 2016 for us to arrive at the Touch Bar?"A lot of it came together in terms of the technology being just right to really pull this off in this kind of form factor — such as Touch ID and the quality of the display. We wanted it to feel just completely native to the keyboard and completely real — and be so responsive. We were able to take so much that we've learned in the hardware for iOS devices — and even so much of the security model of iOS, like for Touch ID — and incorporate some of our custom silicon to make it happen. A

Following the launch of the redesigned MacBook Pro, CNET has published an interview with Apple executives Phil Schiller, Jony Ive, and Craig Federighi, highlighting some of the design decisions that went into the new machine.
The contextual OLED Touch Bar on the new MacBook Pro, which is its key feature, has been in development under the direction of Jony Ive for at least two years, and according to Ive, it "marks a beginning" of a "very interesting direction" for future products.
Apple's new MacBook took so long to develop because the company didn't want to "just create a speed bump," aiming instead for something that's a "big, big step forward." Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller says the MacBook Pro will allow Apple to "create many things to come," some of which "we can't envision yet." He also said Apple isn't driven by a calendar, but is instead aiming to create "new innovations" in the Mac line.
Many customers are unhappy with the high price of the new MacBook Pro models, something Schiller addressed in the interview. An entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro with a Touch Bar costs $1,799, a full $500 more than previous-generation models, and 15-inch models start at $2,399. Schiller says Apple cares about price, but has to design for experience rather than cost.Affordability is "absolutely something we care about," Schiller says. "But we don't design for price, we design for the experience and the quality people expect from Mac. Sometimes that means we end up at the higher end of the range, but not on purpose, just because that's what it costs."The MacBook Pro's

Steven Levy has published an in-depth article about Apple's artificial intelligence and machine learning efforts, after meeting with senior executives Craig Federighi, Eddy Cue, Phil Schiller, and two Siri scientists at the company's headquarters.
Apple provided Levy with a closer look at how machine learning is deeply integrated into Apple software and services, led by Siri, which the article reveals has been powered by a neural-net based system since 2014. Apple said the backend change greatly improved the personal assistant's accuracy."This was one of those things where the jump was so significant that you do the test again to make sure that somebody didn’t drop a decimal place," says Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of internet software and services.Alex Acero, who leads the Siri speech team at Apple, said Siri's error rate has been lowered by more than a factor of two in many cases.“The error rate has been cut by a factor of two in all the languages, more than a factor of two in many cases,” says Acero. “That’s mostly due to deep learning and the way we have optimized it — not just the algorithm itself but in the context of the whole end-to-end product.”Acero told Levy he was able to work directly with Apple's silicon design team and the engineers who write the firmware for iOS devices to maximize performance of the neural network, and Federighi added that Apple building both hardware and software gives it an "incredible advantage" in the space."It's not just the silicon," adds Federighi. "It's how many microphones we put on the device, where we place

Continuing from an interview with Tim Cook and Eddy Cue earlier in the week, Fast Company today posted a lengthy new interview session with Cue and Craig Federighi, in which the two discussed Apple Maps, the legacy of Apple devices, and "learning from Apple's failures."
Both Cue and Federighi admitted that everyone who works at the company has "to be honest with ourselves" whenever mistakes are brought up by the public, usually following new product or software launches. While some may see this as an exponentially increasing problem with Apple, Cue points out that the quality issue appears bigger since the company's reach has expanded. There's "a higher bar" Apple has to achieve now, and Cue is "okay with that."
When we were the Mac company, if we impacted 1% of our customers, it was measured in thousands. Now if we impact 1% of our customers, it’s measured in tens of millions. That’s a problem, right—things are going to be perceived differently. Our products are way better than they used to be, but there’s a higher bar, and I’m okay with that. I think that is why we’re here. That’s why I get up every day. I like that people have high expectations of us, and that they care about little things that bother them, which, in a lot of products, they wouldn’t bother about. With other companies, you think, that’s about as good as it’s going to be. With us, you want perfection; you want it to be the best. And we want that. Both of the Apple executives commented that sometimes the company's high quality standards aren't fully met, particularly when Fast Company questioned them

Earlier this week, Apple executives Phil Schiller and Craig Federighi appeared on a live episode of John Gruber's podcast, The Talk Show, touching on a number of topics and expanding on some of the announcements made the previous day at the Worldwide Developers Conference keynote.
The full video and audio of the interview are now available from Daring Fireball for those interested in seeing exactly what Schiller and Federighi had to say. The executives discussed such topics as the ability to remove stock apps in iOS 10, the opening of several parts of Apple's platforms to third-party developers to allow integration into apps such as Messages and Maps, and more.
The discussion also covered Apple's expanded subscription options for app developers, including some clarification on which types of apps may not be appropriate for such a model, details on the new Photos features and how Apple is approaching privacy with them, and some thoughts on how Apple was able to make such significant improvements in the watchOS user

A day after Apple's WWDC keynote address, Apple SVP of Marketing Phil Schiller and SVP of Software Engineering Craig Federighi joined Daring Fireball's John Gruber on a special edition of his podcast, The Talk Show. The duo addressed many topics, including the emphasis on iMessage in iOS 10, opening up Siri and other parts of iOS up to developers and the Mac App Store.
The bulk of Apple's presentation on iOS 10 was focused on the extensive improvements to iMessage. When Gruber asked Federighi about the focus on Messages Federighi said the company knew that it was the app iPhone users spent the most time in, and the one they get the most excited about.Every time we add emoji it would be the biggest thing. We work all year on a new file system or something and people are more excited about the two more emoji. So we figured if there's one place where we could make a difference in how people experience iOS it's Messages.With iOS 10, Apple announced that many of its services would be opened up to developers. Siri now has an API that allows developers to interface with it, iMessage includes a new App Store that will allow developers to create stickers and payments for it, and Apple Maps now allows developers to create extensions for their apps, allowing users to book a reservation or hail a cab via Maps.
Federighi and Schiller both said that Apple likes to create a baseline for its technology first, then allow developers to build on it. Federighi said this is illustrated by Share Sheets, which at first only featured Facebook and Twitter extensions that were built by

Apple executives Eddy Cue and Craig Federighi will speak at the first annual Code Conference hosted by Re/code, the site reported today. The duo will headline the second night of the event in late May.
We are very excited to have both Cue and Federighi at the event to talk about a range of things about the company that remains at the center of the action, especially in the important mobile sector. From the shifting entertainment and communications landscape to the fast-moving wearables space to, well, everything digital, these two play a very important role.Eddy Cue serves as Apple's senior vice president of Internet Software and Services handling the iTunes Store, App Store, iCloud, and more, while Federighi serves as the senior vice president of Software Engineering, overseeing both iOS and OS X.
Both Cue and Federighi report directly to Tim Cook and are responsible for overseeing many essential elements of Apple's ecosystem.
Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher of Re/code have done multiple yearly conferences, formerly under All Things D. Past events have included interviews with former Apple CEO Steve Jobs and last year’s event featured current Apple CEO Tim Cook, who spoke about wearables and television.
The 2014 Code Conference will also feature speakers like General Motors CEO Mary Barra and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. While the event is sold out, the site does have plans to post news and videos on Re/code throughout the

Following last week's cover story on Apple CEO Tim Cook, SVP of Design Jony Ive, and SVP of Software Engineering Craig Federighi, Bloomberg Businessweek has published the full transcript of its interview with Ive and Federighi, which reveals even more about Apple’s leading trio and the work that went into Apple’s newest mobile operating system, iOS 7.
According to Federighi, both he and Ive "wanted to do something big," and had to figure out how to bring together various Apple teams that had not previously worked together. After a major management restructuring last fall, Jony Ive took over Human Interface in addition to Industrial Design and Craig Federighi, who was previously in charge of OS X, took over iOS as well.ID [Industrial Design] and HI [Human Interface] weren’t working together as much, and that became an intense collaboration, along with Engineering. These are teams that had a creative relationship going back a long time, but this became now a very intense relationship in the construction of iOS 7.The mission, said Federighi, became "so clear and so critical" that "everyone who needed to contribute jumped in." Ive agreed, adding that intense task of creating iOS 7 gave their teams an "all-consuming focus" that greatly enhanced collaboration.When you think about the roles changing, I think what happens is you think about this as the task at hand. So I don’t think we ever talked about our roles. We talked about how we can most effectively extend the collaboration that always existed. […]
I think that when you have a focus that’s that clear, what

While Apple design guru Jony Ive and software engineering chief Craig Federighi were included in a Bloomberg Businessweek cover story published today, much of the focus of that piece was on CEO Tim Cook and his thoughts about Apple and the competition.
Ive and Federighi now get some attention for themselves in an interview with USA Today in which the two discuss their partnership that led to the development of iOS 7."When we sat down last November (to work on iOS 7), we understood that people had already become comfortable with touching glass, they didn't need physical buttons, they understood the benefits," says Ive. "So there was an incredible liberty in not having to reference the physical world so literally. We were trying to create an environment that was less specific. It got design out of the way."Federighi goes on to note that the technological advances over the past few years have finally reached the point where Apple is able to tackle something like iOS 7."This is the first post-Retina (Display) UI (user interface), with amazing graphics processing thanks to tremendous GPU (graphics processing unit) power growth, so we had a different set of tools to bring to bear on the problem as compared to seven years ago (when the iPhone first launched)," he says. "Before, the shadowing effect we used was a great way to distract from the limitations of the display. But with a display that's this precise, there's nowhere to hide. So we wanted a clear typography."
Ive jumps in. "Yes, we wanted to defer to the content, and just get out of the way."The piece also includes

Following their appointments to Apple's senior executive team, Craig Federighi and Dan Riccio have each been granted 75,000 restricted stock units by Apple. The grants, which were revealed in filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission covering Federighi and Riccio, are worth roughly $50 million apiece at today's stock price, although they do not convert into actual shares for some time.
According to the vesting schedule, Federighi and Riccio will each see 25,000 of their restricted stock units convert into actual shares on December 23, 2013, with another 25,000 following on April 23, 2015 and the final batch of 25,000 converting August 23, 2016.
Including actual shares as well as previous restricted stock unit grants that are converting to shares over time, Federighi holds roughly $97 million worth of stock rights at Apple's present share price, while Riccio's holdings would be worth about $89 million.
Grants of restricted stock units are typically issued both as bonuses for previous work as well as incentives to remain with the company. With the units vesting over time, recipients are generally required to remain employed with the company through each vesting date in order for those units to convert into redeemable

Apple today announced that Craig Federighi and Dan Riccio will be joining the company's senior executive team, receiving promotions to the Senior Vice President level.
Craig Federighi (left) and Dan Riccio (right)
Federighi succeeded Bertrand Serlet as head of Mac Software Engineering in early 2011, but was not elevated to the senior executive team at that time. Riccio is currently transitioning to lead Hardware Engineering as Bob Mansfield steps down.As senior vice president of Mac Software Engineering, Federighi will continue to be responsible for the development of Mac OS X and Apple’s common operating system engineering teams. Federighi worked at NeXT, followed by Apple, and then spent a decade at Ariba where he held several roles including vice president of Internet Services and chief technology officer. He returned to Apple in 2009 to lead Mac OS X engineering. Federighi holds a Master of Science degree in Computer Science and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley.
Riccio, as senior vice president of Hardware Engineering, will lead the Mac, iPhone, iPad and iPod engineering teams. He has been instrumental in all of Apple’s iPad products since the first generation iPad. Riccio joined Apple in 1998 as vice president of Product Design and has been a key contributor to most of Apple’s hardware over his career. Dan earned a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1986.Apple has also announced that Mansfield will remain with the company

Bertrand Serlet (Apple)
Apple today announced that Bertrand Serlet, senior vice president of Mac Software Engineering, will be departing the company in order to "focus less on products and more on science", although his specific destination remains unknown. Serlet joined Steve Jobs at NeXT in 1989, and transitioned to Apple in 1997 when NeXT was acquired and Jobs brought back to lead Apple. "I've worked with Steve for 22 years and have had an incredible time developing products at both NeXT and Apple, but at this point, I want to focus less on products and more on science," said Bertrand Serlet, Apple's senior vice president of Software Engineering.
Craig Federighi demoing Mac OS X Snow Leopard (Reuters)
Serlet will be replaced by Craig Federighi, currently Apple's vice president of Mac Software Engineering and who has led Mac OS X engineering for the past two years. Federighi is another former NeXT and Apple employee who spent ten years at Ariba before returning to Apple in 2009. Serlet notes that the transition should be seamless given Federighi's role in leading the current Mac OS X team. "Craig has done a great job managing the Mac OS team for the past two years, Lion is a great release and the transition should be seamless."Serlet has occasionally appeared at Apple keynote and media events over the years to introduce Mac OS X-related features, and thus well known to longtime Apple followers. Federighi has made a couple of on-stage appearances since his return to Apple, demoing Mac OS X Snow Leopard at WWDC 2009 and showing off some of the features of Apple's

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